Sorry I haven't posted a new chapter in a long time! During the last couple of days of Spring Break I was suffering from a severe case of Uninspiration. Then my teachers started piling on the homework as soon as I got back to school. So even if I had inspiration, I couldn't have written it down. However, I finally got inspired tonight so I figured I'd type up Chapter Number 33 for you. I hope you like it! :)

Spinosa: I feel like you've been changing your name a lot lately... Anyway, I ALWAYS used to do that! My friend and I would get a good zoo going with a bunch of carnivorous dinosaurs, then build a giant "people pit" because people can't actually get out of those pits with vertical sides. Then, once the dinos were adults... *malicious laughter* ...we'd set them loose. Have you seen my one-shots where I basically insult Millie yet?

walkswithwheels: I was curious as to whether you actually walked with wheels, based off of your profile picture and your username. I'm sorry to hear that you do, but you seem to have a really great life for someone with cerebral palsy. I didn't know too much about it before and was interested to hear all about it. It made me see Cinderpelt in a whole new light.. And I agree, Mothwing seemed pretty self-centered and wishy-washy for a medicine cat.

catbooklover2004: XD That's crazy! Mine's a white iPod and my brother has a black one. What's the color of yours? Yeah, one of my least taco is Berrynose, too. He wasn't all that popular among the ThunderClan cats. I actually have an orange tabby cat and she's the nicest kitty ever! XD *snuggles Widget*

ShadowHawk540: Sorry! I had time and inspiration and parts of those chapters already written, which leads to daily updates. :P I'm sure you're not complaining that much, though, as you can read more chapters. Sorry you had to wait so long for this chapter, though! And I'm curious about this-what is the point of Cookie Clicker? I saw someone playing it on the computer at school and it looked like all it was was clicking a cookie. No levels or anything. Is it the same on a phone? And I hope you enjoy a chapter from your favorite character's POV! ;)

The Guardian of the Sky: Yeah, Ivypool was a much better character than Dovewing. But I wonder that if the Erins HAD made Ivypool one of the four, she would have had Dovewing's powers and personality and the whole bit, and it would have been Dovewing who had the epic personality and everything?

Nightfeather: Yeah, all those cats are pretty wonderful. They're like Abraham Lincoln in real life. If you didn't know, Lincoln had a horrible life until his presidency where he wrote the Emancipation Proclamation and got his face on the penny and everything. As in he was in debt for 17 years and his business failed and his sweetheart died before their marriage and he didn't get elected to Senate about twenty times over again. But yeah, Cinderstrike the jellybean... XD Yeah, I'm planning for some angst between Rushstar and Cinderstrike on the way back, as their personalities are so similar. :P That should be fun. And I was a little hesitant about Soottttthorn but it got such good support when I asked about possible names for him, so I figured I'd use it anyway.

Silverkitty16: I'm feeling much better now, thanks for asking! :) The pain medication was messing up my digestive tract and making me feel sick but hopefully that'll all clear up in a few days. And I agree, Dovewing's character was seriously underdeveloped. She needed some actual problems instead of the whole, "Oh, two hot guys like me, however will I choose between them?" Yeah, sorry, that was already done by Twilight with a seventeen-year-old girl, a 100-year-old guy, and a 14-year-old guy. Ugh. And yeah, I wonder what Bumblestripe will do after Bramblestar's Storm? Maybe go mad like Ashfur and murder Tigerheart in his sleep or something? XD That would just be amusing.

EradrinSkyleaf: Ah, I've done that before. :P It's just so much work to login sometimes! XD Turtle Tail is pretty great. I haven't read the more recent books, but I got up to Thunder Rising and I think she started having a great character when she stood up to Gray Wing like that. She was just like, "Maybe because I don't have silver fur?" and I was like, "Ooh, BURN!" XD And don't you know catnip voles make Rainsky loopy? *glances anxiously at Rainsky, who is currently rolling around batting at butterflies* Rainsky, will you be ready for this chapter? *pause* No, I guess he won't.

ilovewarriorcats: I've never been to Hawaii, but I've heard the weather there is amazing-like 70 degrees all year long or something. Is that true? Around me the weather's starting to heat up-I love my general area. We get snow, but not enough to make people actually be prepared for it with salt machines and things. Then, right after the snow season ends, BAM it's spring and allergies and warmth and rain and everything. It's so much better than where I used to live. I agree, Crookedstar was a great character. And I think it was cool that he kept his name as crooked because even though it highlighted his disfigurement, he was just like, "Yes, it's part of who I am and it won't stop me. TAKE THAT MOTHER! IT'S NOT A BAD NAME AND IT'S NOT INSULTING!" And I've for sure read longer reviews than yours, so don't worry about it. ;)

Rainsky's POV

We traveled all the next day. When we finally stopped for the night, my paws were sore from the hard ground. But as I stopped to give them a thorough wash, I heard Hyperion telling Lightwing how we were just over halfway through the Twolegplace, which had the effect of considerably lightening my mood. We were managing a faster pace than what I'd traveled my first time through here.

I glanced up momentarily from my paw-washing to watch Hyperion and Lightwing. They were still talking quietly together, though I couldn't make out the words anymore. I wondered what was between them—they certainly seemed to know each other pretty well. And there was a strange sparkle in Lightwing's eyes when she laughed at one of Hyperion's jokes, one that gave me a strange, unsettled sort of feeling in my stomach. Lightwing couldn't… not so soon after Ashthorn…

I tore my eyes away from the pair. I'd ask Lightwing later, I resolved. After she and Hyperion had finished their… conversation. In the meantime, however, I had paws to wash. I bent my head to continue rasping my tongue over the tender pads.

"Rainsky?"

Apparently I'd have to put paw-washing on hold again. Glancing up, I spotted Aspenpaw bounding over to me. "Hey Aspenpaw," I greeted her, forcing all irritation at the interruption to the back of my mind. She didn't know I didn't want to be bothered, I reminded myself.

"How are you?" Aspenpaw sat beside me, gazing at me with concern in her hazel eyes.

I gulped. Had she heard the annoyance in my meow? I thought I'd concealed it well enough. "Fine," I said quickly.

Aspenpaw looked unconvinced. "You've been keeping to yourself for a few days. We—I mean, Alderpaw, me, and you—haven't had a good conversation since we arrived at the forest. What's been bothering you?" When I didn't reply, she insisted, "I haven't even properly congratulated you on your warrior name, which, by the way, is a pretty awesome name!"

Her words made me smile. "Thanks." I said briefly, then, because she was obviously waiting for answers, I sighed and continued, "I don't know why. I didn't mean to shut you and Alderpaw out, and I'm sorry for that."

Aspenpaw nodded slowly. "Yeah, okay," she meowed. "What I meant was more like can I help with anything?"

I glanced up at her, startled and a little hurt. Did she think I couldn't lead the cats back to the lake properly?

Seeing my expression, she backtracked hurriedly. "I mean, you're doing a great job and all, but you're sort of not talking as much as you used to and I was wondering why. You used to be so easygoing and you had this great laugh that you used, like, every day…" she trailed off, looking unsure.

"Oh." I hadn't realized I was shutting myself out as well as others. The thought unnerved me. What was going on?

"Rainsky?"

I looked up at Aspenpaw. She still looked rather wary. I didn't like her looking at me like that. Apart from Cinderpaw and Sootpaw, she and her brother were my best friends. "I'm sorry," I said earnestly, staring intently at her. "I'll try to get back to who I was. I'm sorry I let myself shut you out like that.

Aspenpaw's face broke in a grin. "Thanks," she said, sounding much happier than she'd been before. "So you'll come eat with Alderpaw and me?"

"Um, in a moment," I replied, glancing quickly over her shoulder and spotting my mother on her own. "I have to ask Lightwing something first."

"Oh, okay." Aspenpaw followed my gaze to Lightwing's brown tabby and white figure, sitting with her back to us on top of a grayish cylinder. "Be quick, okay? Alderpaw's been dying to see you." She flashed one last grin in my direction, then bounded off through the crowd to find her brother.

I watched her tail vanish between Robinchest and Tortoiseheart, then headed over to Lightwing, leaping onto the metal can beside her. My claws scraped loudly on its surface and Lightwing turned quickly, visibly relaxing when she saw me. "Oh, hello Rainsky," she purred, smiling. "How are you?"

"I'm okay," I replied, watching her carefully. "How are you?"

"As well as ever," Lightwing replied.

At first glance, I couldn't see any difference in her. Maybe I had to start asking more direct questions. "How's Hyperion?"

There it was—I saw her mouth tighten for a split heartbeat before she replied lightly, "Well, why don't you ask him yourself? He's right over there." She nodded at Hyperion's conspicuous golden pelt, standing out easily amongst the masses of gray, brown, black, and white.

Fine, if she wasn't going to give up any information otherwise, I'd just have to start prying harder. I felt bad about grilling her like this, but I needed to know. "Lightwing," I meowed, and saw her ears prick up at the sound of her name, "I saw you earlier with Hyperion. You looked… you looked happy. Much happier than I've ever seen you."

"Oh, no, I've definitely been happier," Lightwing contradicted. I stared quizzically at her and she elaborated, "I was the happiest I've ever been the moment I saw you back in the forest."

"You're avoiding my question," I accused, staring hard at her. "What's between you and Hyperion?"

Lightwing looked at me for a long moment. Finally, she sighed, her breath ruffling her whiskers. "I knew I'd have to talk to you about this eventually," she said resignedly. "I just… I hoped it could wait until I could tell you along with Sootpaw and Cinderpaw."

I waited with baited breath for her to continue, but when she didn't, I prompted her, "So? You can tell them later, can't you?"

"I suppose I'll have to," Lightwing muttered, casting a sideways glance at me. I saw, to my surprise, amusement filling her eyes. Then she turned away and gazed out across the alleyway, through a gap in the Twoleg dens to where a Thunderpath was visible. Three Monsters roared past before she spoke again.

"I know this will be hard to understand for you," she began, "so I'll start with a story. This is the story of when I left the lake along with most of these cats." She swept her tail around, indicating the group in front of us. "You know already that Ashthorn had to stay behind to lead LeopardClan. I know that he had to do it, that he was the best cat for it, he was going to come find me when he'd created peace, etc. But some small, selfish part of me thought he shouldn't abandon his mate and kits. It just wasn't right.

"I guess it didn't help that along the way I met an amazing, handsome tom in the Twolegplace who led me through several hard nights in the Twolegplace and helped me be brave. He was the one who gave me the courage to raise you and your brother and sister by myself, surrounded as I was by happy families with both a mother and a father."

Lightwing sighed deeply again. "Now Ashthorn's dead and here I am once again in the Twolegplace alongside the tom who helped me so much before. I'm sorry, but I can't help it." She turned a pair of beseeching, dark brown eyes on me. "I think I love Hyperion," she whispered.

My body froze at the shock of hearing those words. Yes, I'd suspected it all along, but hearing the words somehow made the whole thing seem much more real. Part of me wanted to run away, race through the Twolegplace until all this was far behind me and I could hide from my mother and my thoughts. But a small, defiant part of me felt almost glad it was Hyperion and not some other cat. Lightwing had been apart from Ashthorn for so long, she was bound to fall for another tom.

No, I thought firmly, shaking my head, she can't just abandon Ashthorn. If he could have created peace around the lake he would have come for her. He loved her. He still does.

"Rainsky?" I glanced around. This time it was Lightwing's concerned face I saw peering at me instead of Aspenpaw. Aspenpaw. I had to go eat with her.

I stood up quickly. "I have to go," I said abruptly.

Lightwing looked distraught and slightly panicked. "Rainsky, please, I never meant for this to happen so soon! I—"

But I didn't stay to hear the rest of her sentence. I had already bounded off the metallic cylinder, weaving my way through the crowd, bumping blindly into several cats as I searched for Aspenpaw and Alderpaw.

All right, so that chapter was a little on the short side, but oh well. It had action enough in it, I think.

AOTD: My favorite is Gorsepaw. I think he was really underrepresented in the books. :,( He just sort of died and that was it. Poor Gorsepaw! (he was killed by Tigerstar as an example to WindClan in the first series. He used to be Onewhisker's apprentice) My least favorite is probably... half Lionblaze and half Jayfeather. I think everyone makes too much fuss about them. Plus, Lionblaze is way too overpowered (it's said multiple times that he fights like an entire Clan of warriors by himself) and Jayfeather is way too moody. But when he was around Half Moon... well, that's a different story. ;)

QOTD: What do you think of Lightwing and Hyperion and Ashthorn? Do you think she should go ahead with her relationship with Hyperion or wait to join Ashthorn in StarClan?